Never mind the Australian government, I wonder what the Australian taxpayers think of paying for reckless adventurers rescues? Yes, circumnavigating Antarctica in a 40 foot boat with one person onboard in the winter fits my definition of reckless.

Subsidizing recklessness only encourages more. Its almost like a direct transference of money from the Australian taxpayers to the Sunderland family who now have the fame to go out and make money with that fame.

Never mind the Australian government, I wonder what the Australian taxpayers think of paying for reckless adventurers rescues? Yes, circumnavigating Antarctica in a 40 foot boat with one person onboard in the winter fits my definition of reckless.

Subsidizing recklessness only encourages more. Its almost like a direct transference of money from the Australian taxpayers to the Sunderland family who now have the fame to go out and make money with that fame.

Oh, I'm sure some taxpayers are upset and this will be a lighting rod for other frustrations and resentment, but I predict in a week or so it will all be forgotten and they will find another scapegoat for their dissatisfactions. I'll bet if they did a poll today, the average citizen either was never aware or has already forgotten about it.

The second day, after locating her, the agency sent another plane to coordinate her pickup by ships racing toward her

The Australian military also deployed two Orion aircraft to wait on an Indian Ocean island in case an airdrop or further assistance was needed. An Orion costs about AU$30,000 an hour to operate.

In the meantime, the French territory of Reunion Island diverted three ships to Sunderland's location. The fishing vessel that reached her first lost at least three days of work; a commercial ship also sent to her rescue would have added three or four days of travel time to its intended destination.

So even if the Aussies and the French didn't need the money there is no doubt those amounts of money can be better spent.

Homeless, underprivileged, less educated, more victimized etc parts of society as well as money towards science, medcine and the environment.

I would vastly hope home countries didnt feel the need to waste money on putting out legislation to ban these people. One would hope the people themselves might realise they are not achieving anything real, apart from real waste.

Pete Thomas is a former Los Angeles Times reporter who covered Abby and Zac for the paper from when their dreams and plans were in the larval stage. In the wake of all the fuss and commotion attending the disabling of Abby's Wild Eyes and her subsequent rescue, he has offered-up a great deal of background information that virtually no one is aware of.

* * *

"This might not have been reported but a representative from child protective services interviewed Abby for nearly two hours at her home before her Jan. 23 departure from Marina del Rey. Marianne Sunderland, Abby's mom, told me this in the weeks after Abby's departure. The interview was to make sure the high school junior was not being coerced into making this voyage."

I am agnostic on this issue, but I find these two statements, from the story referenced above, entirely contradictory:

"The Sunderlands did not carelessly endanger their daughter as many suggest."

and

"People have argued that Abby was sailing too late in the season, increasing her chances of encountering strong Southern Ocean storms. I agree."

At age 16, Abby's parents are legal guardians and could have called off the venture once her weather window for the Indian Ocean crossing slipped away. It will be hard not to suspect that their failure to do so didn't have a lot to do with the blind pursuit of fame and fortune.

I am agnostic on this issue, but I find these two statements, from the story referenced above, entirely contradictory:

"The Sunderlands did not carelessly endanger their daughter as many suggest."

and

"People have argued that Abby was sailing too late in the season, increasing her chances of encountering strong Southern Ocean storms. I agree."

At age 16, Abby's parents are legal guardians and could have called off the venture once her weather window for the Indian Ocean crossing slipped away. It will be hard not to suspect that their failure to do so didn't have a lot to do with the blind pursuit of fame and fortune.

In the immortal words balloon boy: they "did it for the show."

Yes, and don't forget to add this quote:

"She was supposed to start last November, but because of numerous delays caused by boat issues she didn't start till Jan. 23."

One of the "boat issues" was that she didn't have a boat. It was purchased on October 21st and it was in Rhode Island.

There's been various suggestions on this thread to subjectively save certain lives and let others fend for themselves.

Example: Some day in the future - A person sets off their EPIRB, they receive a response that tells them to answer the attached series of questions. After submitting the answers, next they receive a message that states: 'It has been determined by the government that your own stupidity put you in harms way, therefore you'll need to provide a credit card number for this rescue to proceed.'

"The Sunderlands did not carelessly endanger their daughter as many suggest." (from the article). Nope - they carefully endangered their daughter. As far as adjectives are concerned - how about 'needlessly' or 'irresponsibly'.... Cheers,
Bill